SAN BERNARDINO – Last basketball season, the teams from the Public Safety Academy could not host a single home game because they didn’t have a gym.

But by the time the next season rolls around, they will be able to compete on their own home basketball court, thanks to an agreement reached between the school and city to keep the Norton Recreation Center open.

“This is a great situation, just a win-win for the city and the school,” said Jeff Breiten, deputy chief of the Public Safety Academy.

The long-existing center on the former Norton Air Force Base had been slated to close along with other recreation facilities as of April 1, as part of a budget-cuts package approved by the City Council in February.

Officials at the academy, now housed in the Galaxy Center next to Norton, said they became interested in staffing it and keeping it open to benefit students and the public when they learned it may close down.

And on April 20, the City Council approved the agreement between the city and charter school that offers an academic curriculum, with electives focused on careers in public safety.